About mingliatlas

Chinese metaphysics — Bazi (Four Pillars of Destiny), I Ching (Book of Changes), Feng Shui, Ziwei Doushu (Purple Star Astrology), and the Chinese Zodiac — is a set of structured analytical systems that has guided decision-making in East Asia for over two thousand years. Yet for most Western readers, access to these systems has been filtered through either over-simplified pop astrology or dense academic translations aimed at specialists.

mingliatlas exists to close that gap. Our mission is to explain each system faithfully — preserving its internal logic and classical terminology — while writing in plain, modern English that a curious reader can follow without prior background. We do not flatten these traditions into fortune-telling language, and we do not invent meanings that the classical texts do not support.

The site is organized around five pillars:

• Bazi (四柱命理) — the Four Pillars system built from birth date and time, covering Day Masters, Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, Ten Gods, and the Five Elements (Wu Xing 五行).
• I Ching (易经) — the Book of Changes, including all 64 hexagrams, their line statements, and practical guidance on how to consult the oracle.
• Chinese Zodiac (生肖) — the twelve animal signs with compatibility analysis grounded in the Liu He (六合), San He (三合), and Liu Chong (六冲) relationships.
• Feng Shui (风水) — spatial harmony principles for homes and workspaces, explained through directional theory and Five Elements logic.
• Ziwei Doushu (紫微斗数) — Purple Star Astrology, a chart-based system distinct from Bazi that maps life sectors onto a twelve-palace grid.

Each section includes both reference knowledge pages and free interactive tools. Start with the free Bazi calculator to build your Four Pillars chart and find your Day Master, read what Bazi is from the ground up, cast the I Ching oracle, or explore the Chinese Zodiac signs and compatibility.

Pages are compiled and edited from named classical works, published translations, historical references, and contemporary practitioner material. AI-assisted drafting may support the workflow, but published pages are reviewed for terminology, internal consistency, source attribution, and reader safety.

Our editorial standards:

• Claims are tied to a named classical source or a verifiable practitioner consensus.
• Chinese terms are given with hanzi, pinyin, and an English gloss on first use.
• Numerical claims (e.g. stem–branch cycle lengths, hexagram counts) are stated precisely.
• Pages carry a published date and are reviewed for accuracy when new scholarship emerges.

We separate source types so readers can see where a claim comes from. Classical source notes explain inherited concepts, modern practitioner sources explain contemporary usage, and academic or historical references help with context. Editorial notes explain how mingliatlas applies those sources for beginner-friendly education.

A strong knowledge page should not rely on a single generic tradition label. When a page covers a core entity such as Bazi, Wu Xing, I Ching, Feng Shui, Ziwei Doushu, or the Chinese Zodiac, we aim to include named sources and clear boundaries around interpretation.

The three anchor texts below are starting points, not a claim that every school of practice reads them identically. Open the source records, compare the terminology, and use the source-evaluation guide to separate a classical rule, a translation choice, a modern explanation, and an editorial inference.

• Yuan Hai Zi Ping (渊海子平) — Song-dynasty Zi Ping classic, c. 1100 CE — Day Master tradition in Bazi.
• San Ming Tong Hui (三命通会) — Ming-dynasty compendium, c. 1550 CE — stem-branch relationships and chart structure.
• I Ching, Wilhelm/Baynes translation — Standard English reference translation of the Book of Changes.

For calendar-sensitive work, reproduce the displayed pillars with the Bazi calculator and record the civil date, local time, place, time zone, and solar-term convention. Compare close boundaries with the Hong Kong Observatory calendar conversion tables. If two conventions produce different pillars, preserve both inputs before making an interpretive comparison.

New and revised pages are reviewed against four checks before publication: factual consistency, terminology consistency, source quality, and reader safety. We check that Chinese terms are used consistently across the site, that claims match the stated source layer, and that practical advice stays within education and self-reflection.

We also run technical quality checks for canonical URLs, structured data, sitemap inclusion, internal links, and AI-readable discovery files such as llms.txt and llms-full.txt.

Knowledge pages are reviewed on a rolling basis. When classical scholarship, new practitioner consensus, or reader corrections indicate that a page needs revision, we update it and refresh the dateModified timestamp in the page metadata when the revision materially changes the page. If you believe a factual error exists on any page, please use the contact form to reach us with the specific claim and the source you believe is more accurate. Submissions are saved for editorial review and assessed as capacity allows.

Content on mingliatlas is provided for educational, entertainment, and self-reflection purposes only. The interpretations and frameworks described represent classical Chinese metaphysical traditions and do not constitute professional medical, psychological, legal, or financial advice. Readers are encouraged to consult qualified professionals for decisions in those domains. The site does not claim that any metaphysical system can predict the future with certainty.